Turkower standing on the riverbank near her.
“Hang on!” he shouted, cautiously stepping
off the bank. He inched forward, the water
swirling around his knees now, then leaned
forward and stretched out his hand. Nancy
reached out and grasped it. Gerald steadied
himself, then reeled Nancy in to the bank as if
she were one of those cutthroat trout he had
talked about at lunch.
Nancy’s legs were numb and wouldn’t hold
her up. “Thanks,” she said to Gerald through
chattering teeth.
“Nancy! Are you all right?” Bess demanded,
running up.
“C-c-cold” was all Nancy could manage.
Gerald took off his fleece-lined leather jacket
and draped it around Nancy’s shoulders.
Bess turned to him. “Where did you come
from?” she asked curiously.
His eyes flickered. “I was in the woods,
taking pictures.”
Nancy looked sharply at him and struggled
to find her voice. “Was anybody with you?”
she asked after a second.
Gerald shook his head. “Come on. Nancy,
I’ll help you to your car. You need to get in and
turn the heater on full blast. How did you
happen to fall in?” he asked as they walked.
“I didn’t,” she replied. “Somebody pushed
me.”
“What?” Gerald’s face registered shock,
“Are you sure? Couldn’t you just have been
jostled?”
Nancy shook her head. “I distinctly felt two
hands shoving against my back. It was no
accident, take my word for it. Did you see
anything, Bess?”
“No. I’m sorry,” Bess replied on the verge of
tears. “I was looking-at the falls.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Nancy said. “You
had no reason to think somebody was going to
push me in.”
As they reached the car, Gerald told Nancy
to go back to the hotel and take a hot shower.
“I’ll drive. Nan,” Bess offered. “You relax.”
Nancy gave Bess the keys, then thanked
Gerald again for rescuing her.
“I’m glad I was there to help,” he replied,
holding the door for her.
Bess turned on the heater, and soon Nancy
stopped shivering. “It was a man who pushed
me,” she said. “As I went over the railing, I got
an impression of his hands. They were too big
and hairy to belong to a woman. Oh, Bess,”
Nancy said, interrupting herself. “Your binoc-
ulars! They must have fallen into the river with
me. I’m so sorry.”
“Do you think I care about some old binoc-
ulars when I just watched you nearly drown?”
Bess scolded.
As Bess turned into the hotel parking lot, she
continued, “Who could have pushed you?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t know. In fact, I
don’t know what to think anymore.”
A large, shiny bus was stopped in front of the
hotel entrance. People were spilling out of it
onto the sidewalk.
“Look, Nancy,” Bess said excitedly, point-
ing out the bus, which said Randy Dean Pro-
ductions. “Do you think Randy’s with them?”
she asked.
Nancy smiled. “I doubt if a big star like
Randy Dean would arrive on a bus,” she said.
“He’s probably coming by private helicopter.”
“I guess you’re right,” Bess said, parking the
car. “Come on, let’s get you inside and warm.”
Nancy’s legs felt like lead as she climbed the
steps to the hotel lobby. “All I want to do is lie
down in a warm tub and soak for a month or
two,” she announced as Bess unlocked the
door to their room.
Bess gave her a concerned look. “Are you
sure you don’t want to see a doctor?”
“I’m sure,” Nancy replied firmly. “After a
hot bath and a little rest, I’ll be as good as
new.”
At Bess’s urging, the girls had dinner in their
room. As the waiter took away the tray, Bess
gave Nancy a close look and said, “You look a
lot better. You may not be up for an evening of
square dancing, but at least you can sit and
watch.”
“You really think I ought to go?” Nancy
asked.
Bess was now standing in front of the mir-
ror, smoothing the waist of her knee-length
denim skirt. “You want to see Ned, don’t
you?”
“Of course I do,” Nancy replied, then
paused. “But I don’t know what to say to
him.”